Day 396 – Guayaquil, ECUADOR
Night bus to Ecuador
After finally falling asleep on the Civa night bus from Mancora, we were awoken to an announcement in Spanish at 1.45am. We were told to prepare our documentation. Once we got off the bus we went to the Immigration Building. As we walked to the building, we could see some Red Cross Buildings on the opposite side of the road.
Immigration
The building is actually a joint building, with both the Peruvian and Ecuadorian Immigration officers working next to each other. The line consisted of people only from our bus. At the Peruvian counter, we were told that we had overstayed our visit!
We were shocked. We had technically overstayed our visit by 2 hours, because immigration at the airport had only given us 30 days entry when we arrived. Typically Australian and NZ passports can stay for 90 days for free. Essentially we had to pay a fine, for staying 2 hours extra, even though we can typically stay for another 60 days. A little ridiculous in my opinion, but it was our fault for not checking our passport visa stamp, when we arrived.
The fine is 4.20 PEN ($1.85 AUD) per person per day. I only have 5 PEN left with me. I had to pay $2 USD to the bus attendant, so he would cover the remaining 3.40 PEN. The immigration officer would only accept Peruvian Cash.
After this ordeal, we went to the Ecuadorian counter, to get our entry stamp. The process was uneventful but slow. We ended up being the last people back on the bus. The bus started moving again at 2.27am.
Terminal Terrestre
The next time we woke up, we were at our destination, Terminal Terrestre in the city of Guayaquil. The time was 6:30am. After picking up our bags we walked inside the terminal to find out that it’s massive. There are 3 levels of bus terminals and shops.
We decided to wait until the shops opened so that we could buy a SIM Card. Movistar or Claro seem like the big contenders. The phone shops opened at 9:00am, and after talking to both, we decided to buy a SIM for $10 USD ($14.85 AUD) with Movistar. We were told that we would get 2GB for 30 days, and that the account would be active in an hour. After asking how to check the remaining credit (*100# and then option 6), we left. We missed the big warning sign as we didn’t get a receipt. Turns out the guy had lied to us…(more on this on Day 397).
After buying some contact lenses from a company called GMO, which has the same logo as OPSM, we left the terminal towards our hostel.
Dream Kapture Hostel
To leave the terminal, was quite a task in the end. Every exit is full of taxi ranks. Since we didn’t think an Uber would be welcome here, we crossed the road, to a service station. Here we caught an Uber to Dream Kapture Hostel. Some of our friends who live in Quito told us not to trust taxis in Guayaquil.
We arrived at the hostel, at 10am. We were able to drop off our bags, but we were told that the room was still occupied. After chilling in the nice outdoor area for a while using the Wi-Fi, we decided to walk a short distance to a shopping centre called City Mall.
City Mall, is massive, with brand name stores. It felt like walking around Eastland to be honest. We ended up having lunch in the food court (cost us $4 USD ($5.94 AUD) per person) and then buying groceries from a large supermarket, Megamaxi.
Once we came back to the hostel, we were able to check into our room. It was a nice clean room, with a private bathroom. The hostel is a little old and the Wi-Fi in the room is sketchy. Otherwise the room is okay with a comfortable bed and hot water. There is also a nice upstairs dining area to chill out in. We just ended up binge watching season three of 13 Reasons Why on Netflix for the rest of the night.
Note: Ecuador’s official currency is the United States Dollar (USD)